Sep. 4, 2013
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Liz Cheney speaks to reporters in Cheyenne, Wyo. / Ben Neary, AP

by Catalina Camia, USA TODAY

by Catalina Camia, USA TODAY

Senate hopeful Liz Cheney said she would vote against a U.S. military strike on Syria and blamed President Obama for "an amateurish approach to national security and foreign policy."

Cheney, a Republican and a daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, made her remarks at an event hosted by the Jackson Hole Tea Party Tuesday night in Wyoming. Her comments were reported by the News & Guide, a Jackson Hole newspaper.

Cheney is challenging Sen. Mike Enzi, a three-term lawmaker, in the 2014 GOP primary. Enzi has criticized Obama on Syria but has not said how he will vote on a Senate resolution that would limit military action in Syria to 60 days with the option of one 30-day extension.

Republicans - as well as Democrats in Obama's party - have concerns about using U.S. military force in Syria to thwart the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons. Foreign policy debates such as the one going on about Syria tend to expose fissures within the Republican Party. For example, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is against a military strike. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., have criticized the Obama plan but have expressed in recent days more confidence in the White House's formulation of strategy.

Cheney dismissed such a divide, the newspaper reported.

"The press will try to portray this Syria debate as a battle between wings of the Republican Party," she is quoted as saying. "Don't believe them."